April 1-7, 2019
I think I’ve guided more Bow Yoho traverses than any other single guide the past few years. This year I again coordinated with the Vancouver Section Alpine Club and figured I’d do just one week with a group of 8. Well interest in the trip surged and we ended up with a group of 14! So I hired two other guides besides myself, plus an assistant, and made bookings for a group of 18 passing through Bow Hut (one night), Guy Hut (two nights) and finishing up at Stanley Mitchell (2 nights).
Yeah, 18 is a big group to move through the mountains, I know! But we divided off into 3 groups of 6 for travelling and it was really perfect. With a group that large there will always be differences in fitness and goals and we were really able to cater to everyone this week.
We had spectacular conditions yet again. The big highlight for me was an 850 m run down the backside of Yoho Peak. Who would have thought that the best ski run at Guy Hut — which situated high in the alpine without a tree in site — is mostly treed? Other highlights included what’s becoming a bit of a trademark for my trips: a pack-free descent of the north facing Isolated Col complete with face shots. And even the descent down the south side of Isolated Col was pretty good up until the avalanche path that takes you to valley bottom. It was pretty awful. But this was all forgotten the next day as we did epic powder laps below the vice president followed by hunkering by the wood fire at Stanley Mitchell sipping hot chocolate and soaking in the rustic beauty of the old log structure built in the 1950s.
Am I running another Bow Yoho traverse this winter? Absolutely! Here’s a link to my next Bow Yoho trip page!